First-place Beavers split with Unicorns in USPBL action

The Birmingham-Bloomfield Beavers and Utica Unicorns split their two recent weekend games, with each team winning by a 7-1 score. The Beavers registered a 7-1 win Sunday after losing by that same score on Friday.

Despite the split, Birmingham-Bloomfield continued to remain atop the United Shore Professional Baseball League (USPBL) standings with a 17-10 record. The Eastside Diamond Hoppers are second at 12-12 while the Utica Unicorns are third in the three-team independent league at 9-16.

In the six-run victory over the Unicorns, the Beavers collected 12 hits and all nine starters reached base at least one time.

“We don’t ever rely on just one person,” said Beavers first baseman Nic Wilson, who is making a serious charge at winning the USPBL triple crown. “We can score lots of ways and it’s a lot of fun when everybody comes out, swings it and runs around.”

Wilson began the offensive assault with a whopping three-run, third-inning round tripper over the Chevrolet Pavilion situated well beyond the left field wall. It was his league-leading 10th home run and league-leading 24th RBI.

“Anytime you get good contact, that’s just what you’re looking for,” said Wilson. “It felt good to square one up and be able to score for our team.”

DJ Martinez smacked a two-run homer in the fourth and added another RBI in the fifth with a single. Martinez has a six-game hitting streak heading into the Beavers’ next set of games.

Dan Kennon went 2-3 with a double and two runs scored. Randy Wynne was the winning pitcher.

The earlier six-run loss to the Unicorns snapped the Beavers’ four-game winning streak. The Beavers had just three hits in that loss.

The Beavers, coached by Chris Newell, play Thursday (7:25 p.m.) and Friday (7:05 p.m.) and Sunday (2 p.m.) this week at Jimmy John’s Field in Utica.

FIFTH PLAYER PROMOTED: Dalton DiNatale recently become the fifth USPBL player to sign with a Major League baseball organization.

DiNatale, who played first base for the Eastside Diamond Hoppers, was signed by the Los Angeles Dodgers. The left-handed hitting infielder played college baseball at Arizona State University.

“Whether it’s a college kid passed over or an exceptional young man like Dalton who needs just a little bit of help, that’s our goal,” said USPBL Commissioner and Founder Andy Appleby from Bloomfield Township. “We are a finishing school for these young men and we take great pride in making every player better.”

The USPBL’s earlier players promoted to Major League programs were pitcher Ross Vance (St. Louis Cardinals) and infielder Aaron Bossi (New York Yankees) from the Birmingham-Bloomfield Beavers, pitcher Chris McDonald (Pittsburgh Pirates) from the Diamond Hoppers and pitcher Evan Piechota (Pittsburgh Pirates) from the Utica Unicorns.